Content Migration: A lot like moving from house to house
So, the time has come. You have your inventory, your new content migration checklist, your rewrites to pages that need to be migrated, and everything's ready to go. But here is where some of the headaches may begin:
Sometimes, some of the content might not fit the new frameworks you've created, and you need to either massage the content or be flexible with how you envisioned things to go. Oftentimes I've had to use different templates to better fit content than what clients originally wanted. Once the content is finally on the page, you'll actually be able to see how things fit - or don't.
Some content can just get lost in the fray. Migration can be a long, grueling, and oftentimes repetitive process. Small bumps in the road can make for an annoying process. But like any road trip, or move - getting to your beautiful new home can make it all worth the wait and effort.
Example Content Matrix
As an example, this is what your content matrix may look like. For this particular one, the light blue row indicates an additional page created to account for content that wasn't originally marked for migration. The red indicates that there was an issue that needed to be resolved before migrating the page. The green line means this was a successfully migrated page, and the yellow means that the page was migrated but requires a small fix.
As you work through your content matrix, migrating your content, marking down the pages similarly to what's above allows you to go back and see what needs to be fixed or addressed during a period of content adjustment.
Some migrations have mostly "green" pages, and some migrations might have more "yellow" and "red." No one migration is the same in how fast, easily, and thoroughly it gets done - especially the first round.
So this holiday season, when you think about your new website, make sure to make a list, and definitely make sure to check it twice, because even if Migration is a messy and long process, it definitely doesn't have to be.